


Palace of Obsession

by Misc-SephyAthredon (SephyAthredon)



Series: SephyAthredon Whumptober 2020 [7]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Abuse, Blood, Isolation, M/M, Obsessing, Possessiveness, Prompt number 8, Stealing, Talking to self, Whumptober 2020, an adult obsessing over a teen, painting the unconventional way, touch starvation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27287593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SephyAthredon/pseuds/Misc-SephyAthredon
Summary: Yusuke gets trapped in a palace and the group has trouble getting him out. He waits and waits, nobody comes for him. An entry for Whumptober under the prompt "Isolation".
Relationships: Kitagawa Yusuke/Kurusu Akira
Series: SephyAthredon Whumptober 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1992352
Kudos: 30





	Palace of Obsession

**Author's Note:**

> ((This one is an Akira x Yusuke fic that I don’t think was written very well. I realize after the fact that I didn’t specify what Kenji looked like. Also, any similarities to Kanji from P4 are coincidental.
> 
> I also took out some of the best parts of the palace I had envisioned to get to the main part quicker so I apologize for that.))

Somehow, Yusuke had found himself in a situation just as bad as the one he had been in with Madarame. He found himself apprenticed under someone who had been a fan of Madarame’s. He’d told him that he felt utterly betrayed when he confessed. 

Yusuke had been invited to join a group that this man had set up. He was a former Japanese businessman named Chikyu Kenji and he had reached out to all of Madarame’s former pupils, offering to give them another chance at becoming an artist. Yusuke had accepted, believing the man’s cause to be just. It was less about not having anywhere else to go and more because he wanted to meet these other former pupils and maybe becoming friends with them. He was reluctant about the idea of becoming a pupil again, but Kenji had told him not to think of it as a “Master and Pupil” kind of thing, but rather a “Mentor and Student” kind. 

The first week painting there had been fine. He’d gotten to know several people who painted there and he was even making a few friends, quickly bonding with them over their shared past. Everyone worked on one area with rows of easels that circled the room with a stand in the middle. Sometimes there would be a live model for them to turn into their own unique painting, and sometimes it was left empty while the students painted their own thing. Kenji often left classic Japanese music playing in the room as a way to ‘inspire’ his students.

Once they were starting to get into the second week of painting, Yusuke noticed some odd things. He was being shown a large degree of favoritism from Kenji. The man would often show his art to the group and let them know that art like his is what he expected from the students, even though art was a subjective thing and there were many many different styles that it came in. 

As time passed, he noticed that everyone’s artwork became similar, more close to his own, and his was praised for some kind of “artistic genius” that Yusuke didn’t really believe was there. People that deviated greatly from the look of Yusuke’s artwork were taken into a separate room with Kenji and they often came back with signs that something had happened to them. Bloody noses, bruises on their face, rubbing their arms or legs, or even out of breath and close to tears. They stayed quiet.

But Yusuke had learned to recognize signs of abuse when he saw it.

On top of that, canvases with artwork on them often went missing, which definitely didn’t sit well with him.

The boiling point came at the end of his first month. Kenji was once again showing his finished piece to the class, praising it for the vibrancy of the colors and the way the artwork seemed to flow off the canvas.

Little things had been bothering Yusuke through the entire class. He counted two students that had been abused because their art wasn’t like his.

“That’s enough.” He replied in the middle of Kenji’s praise, “Art is subjective, there’s never one definitive way to do it. You should let them explore possibilities and find their own unique way of painting, instead of just constraining them to my way of doing things. 

“But Yusuke… Your way of doing things is excellent. These students of my could only hope to reach the same level that you have” 

Yusuke scanned the room, noticing several of the other people duck their heads in shame.

“I don’t know what you see in me, but you should give them a chance. I am only still learning myself.”

“Don’t be so modest. They have a lot to learn from you. Now… let’s get back to painting, shall we?” He turned away from Yusuke at that moment, going to put away the painting he had been praising just a moment ago.

Several attempts to get through to Kenji were made over the next couple of days, he didn’t listen, so Yusuke had no choice but to rely on his last resort plan.

“You want us to take the heart of your new Mentor?” Futaba asked, surprise in her voice. 

“Dude, we can’t just go around stealing the hearts of people we don’t like” Ryuji pitched in, leaning back in his chair.

“Lets let Yusuke give us his reason for this suggestion first before jumping to conclusions.” Makoto suggested. She paused a moment to see if there were any objections, there were none, “Alright then Yusuke, you have the floor.”

“Thank you, Makoto” He nodded to her before looking around at everyone, “I believe I have fallen under the tutelage of another Madarame. A former fan of his has gathered all of his pupils together to give them a second chance at making art, but it seems he is only interested in my art and he’s trying to make them paint more like I do. He abuses anyone who doesn’t get my style right. If that isn’t bad enough, some canvases with artwork have gone missing. This is only a guess, but I’m assuming that he’s selling his student’s artwork behind their backs.”

“Dammit! This is just another manipulative bastard! Just like that effin’ Kamoshida” Ryuji replied, pounding his fist against the table.

Akira, who had been silent this whole time, reached up and grabbed one of Yusuke’s sleeves, making the other look down at him. Their eyes met each other. There was a frown on Akira’s face as he spoke, “I won’t let you succumb to the same fate twice.”

Yusuke gave a little nod in response, looking around at everyone else in the Attic, “So, what’s the verdict.”

“This guy sounds scummy. I’m for it.” Futaba was the first to respond

“Same here, anything to stop another fricken’ abuser” Ryuji seconded, raising his hand

“Count me in!” Morgana replied next

“Are we all in agreement then?” Makoto asked, The others nodded their heads, “Good, now we just need the keywords.”

“Actually, I’ve been thinking about those for the past few days. I have a few ideas. His last name is Kenji and the place would be the art studio, as for the third option, I’m thinking somewhere traditionally japanese. He has a lot of classic music playing all the time and he seems to love visiting old places. He’s talked about his trips to old shrines and stuff in class.”

Akira already had the MetaNav out, “Kenji, Art Studio, Shrine” It responded with a noise, letting him know that his entry was rejected.

“What about a hot spring?” Ann asked. Akira tried it, still no luck.

Yusuke was deep in thought for a while as the others tried different options, “I think it has something to do with the way he views his students. Perhaps as laborers… people working for his monetary gain. Maybe as… serfs.” He mumbled this to himself as he thought, but the next thought he voiced aloud, “Try ‘Feudal Castle’”

Akira tried it and a hit was found, “Of course he has a castle. Ready to jump in then? We need to scope out the place first. We have to travel to the studio first.”

The others nodded in unison and Akira looked back over to Yusuke, “Lead the way.:

It didn’t take long to get over there and, once they were sure nobody was watching, they went into the metaverse. 

Kenji’s palace was a red Japanese style castle overlooking an abandoned city. All the shadows were disguised as Samurai. Their faces were completely black but they had a Kimono and a Hakama on. They also each wielded katana. The shadows in the palace seemed to want nothing to do with anyone in the party except for Yusuke, making them easy to defeat, with Morgana healing Yusuke every turn.

Similar to Madarame’s palace, cherry blossoms rained down in a steady stream on everyone, the palace being flanked by two trees on either side. 

As a matter of fact, this palace was too similar to Madarame’s for Yusuke’s liking. One key difference was that his own paintings lined the interior walls of the palace, painting the picture of an obsession that runs deeper than Yusuke thought. The walls were lined with paper screen, some of which opened and some didn’t. 

Over the next several days, the group did their usual thing, taking out shadows and working through puzzles. One of them was a giant game of Go. Three separate keys were hidden in three puzzle boxes that the group had to figure out. They also met several shadow forms of the students that Yusuke worked with. They roamed the castle walls as workers, forced to do the Emperor’s bidding.

Soon though, Morgana had told them that they were halfway through the palace. Through the Palaces linear route upward, the group was led out onto a balcony. Docked on one side of it was a gold cage that looked to only be able to fit one person. It was open.

“This is odd” Akira muttered to himself, looking out at the town that overlooked the palace, “Oracle, there’s no other path up from inside the palace, is there?”

“Not that I can see.” Futaba replied, her UFO hovering just above the balcony, “Maybe there’s a way up from outside?”

“I’ll check” Akira replied, nodding to Futaba and then looking around the area to see what he could find.

Yusuke, however, was busy inspecting the cage, “This is odd… I wonder what this could be for…” He didn’t see one of the Samurai shadows sneak up behind him. Makoto and Morgana were distracted looking for other routes as well. The only one who noticed was Futaba.

“Fox! Look out!” She shouted.

It was too late, Yusuke hit his head hard against the bars of the cage as he was thrown in. It was such a hard push that he was forced to his knees. Vaguely, he became aware of the cage door closing behind him.

“Don’t touch him!” Akira launched himself at the enemy, initiating a fight. This was a tough one. One of the harder to beat shadows that the group often encountered in the metaverse. It took a while for them to defeat, especially with only three team members. As the boss died, it flipped a lever nearby, breaking it off and sending the cage upward.

“No!” Akira tried to force it back the other way, but it wouldn’t budge. In a last ditch effort to get Yusuke out of there, he flung himself onto the cage. One hand grabbed onto one of the bars while the other reached between them.

“Joker!” Yusuke was quick to react, grabbing Akira’s hand

“Oracle! See if you can find some way to get that cage down!” He heard Makoto shout.

“On it!” Futaba replied.

Suddenly, Akira let out a cry of pain, his hand shaking in Yusuke’s “Something’s… trying to drag me down… I’m.. I’m not going to leave you.” 

The cage stopped suddenly, as did everyone’s struggles as a voice reached their ears, one familiar to Yusuke, but clearly distorted.

“My my, Yusuke, such loyal friends you have.”

Peering down onto the balcony confirmed his suspicions as he saw the Metaverse’s version of Kenji there. The others had called him Emperor Kenji. He was dressed as a feudal emperor , the two halves of his face twisted into two very different expressions but otherwise unchanged, like some kind of Kabuki mask. A line split his face perfectly in half. It looked like some sort of scar.

“What are you doing to Yusuke! Let him go!” Akira shouted, still hanging from his spot, swinging his legs in an attempt to kick the man in the head, even though he wasn’t anywhere close.

“Oh, but don’t you see? The man who makes such magnificent works of art shouldn’t be allowed to just be out, doing what he wants. He should be put on display, for he too is a work of art. Which is why I’m hoisting him high up to the top of the palace for everyone to see.”

“How sick.” Makoto replied, venom in her voice. 

Yusuke was the next to speak up, he didn’t hadn’t let go of Akira, “I don’t understand what you are saying. My works are far from perfect, even if I were, this is no way to treat a human being!” He tried summoning Goemon to his side, only to realize that he couldn’t, “What? What did you do to my persona?”

“Oh, just a simple forget spell, don’t want you escaping after all.” One side of Kenji’s face twisted into a wide grin.”

Yusuke gripped one of the bars tight with the hand that wasn’t still holding onto Akira, “You bastard! I’ll never forgive you for what you’ve done!”

He made a scoffing noise, “I don’t need you too. As far as I’m concerned, you’re just another piece in my collection.” He approached Akira, only just able to reach up and grab an ankle, “You, however, don’t belong. A mere piece of coal among diamonds.”

Makoto launched into an attack with Joanna, and Morgana quickly followed with a burst of wind from Zorro.

He blocked both, stepping back, “Fine then, I’ll leave, but your friend is going to have a very nasty fall eventually.” With those words, Kenji vanished in a puff of smoke.

The cage started moving again.

Yusuke focused all his attention on Akira, trying to find a way to get him out of this situation that didn’t involve the man he loved falling to his death. He could hear Makoto taking out her gun and shooting at the chain that the cage was attached to, trying to break it. The bullets merely bounced off.

“Akira… you have to jump.” It was the only conclusion he could think of, “Quick, before we get too high up and you won’t be able to survive the fall.

“He’s right.” The voice of Oracle spoke up, “As much as I hate to say it, this looks like a mental block. We aren’t going to be able to solve this puzzle in the metaverse. Queen, catch him as he’s coming down.”

“But…” Akira looked into Yusuke’s eyes, “I don’t want to leave you to stay here alone…”

“I’ll be okay… If he values me as a priceless ‘work of art’ then he won’t dare touch me.” The artist replied back, squeezing Akira’s hand tightly, “Just… try to come back soon.”

“I will… I promise” Akira looked down, noticing that Makoto was underneath him. He took a deep breath and let go of Yusuke’s arm, letting his hand slip out of the other’s and plummeting downward.

Yusuke watched as the other caught him and continued watching as they regrouped and talked for a bit. He watched until he was too high to see anyone anymore.

Once the cage came to a halt at the top of the palace, Yusuke settled in for the wait. He had to admit that the view of the surrounding cognitive lands was beautiful, it inspired him to paint. However that inspiration soon left him as he realized that he didn’t have the supplies.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next days passed frustratingly slowly. A few times, Yusuke felt eyes on him and it took him a few minutes to pinpoint where the feeling came from, but he soon spotted Kenji watching him from a nearby balcony, appraising him like a work of art. It made him feel vulnerable and often he drew his arms around his chest and kept his legs pressed together just to lessen the feeling.

Kenji never did anything, just… stared.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A week passed by, or at least as much as Yusuke could guess as he was starting to lose track of time. The palace itself was stuck in an eternal sunset. He was starting to grow frustrated with this whole situation. He had nobody to talk to, he just started talking to himself instead. Little bits and pieces here and there. Mutterings about future art pieces that he had in mind, anything to make the time pass quicker.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the time a month had passed by, Yusuke felt like he was losing his mind. He ached to hear a voice, any voice, anything but the sound of the wind against his cage, the same wind that tossed up cherry blossoms around the palace. He hoped that he could at least get some refreshing rain as a change of pace, but that didn’t seem likely as wind was the only weather that existed in this palace.

Yusuke’s little bouts of talking to himself became very common, as a way to stave off the extreme loneliness he felt. He’d often yell things at Kenji as he came out on the balcony to view his ‘piece of art’. The man pretended not to hear him and just continued to stare. Yusuke no longer felt vulnerable, but instead, he felt an unreasonable amount of anger and fear.

What if he’d been abandoned? What if the mental blockade was unsolvable? He’d be here till Kenji died and then he would be buried in debris from the palace, along with his gilded cage.

He went through the scenario over and over again in his head through his time in the cage, the scenario that led to him getting captured in the first place. He wondered over and over again what he could have changed.

Ultimately, he found it pointless. Everything was pointless when he was trapped like this. At least he can be thankful for not needing to eat or drink in the metaverse.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another two weeks went by and Yusuke could hardly take being in the cage anymore. His talking increased frantically, almost desperately. He even took off his mask and started talking to it like it was a separate entity, calling it ‘Fox’.

Even the smallest of things set him off. He pounded his fists against the bars, in an attempt to get out, not even stopping when blood trailed down the fingers. The bars would not bend.

He still couldn’t stop that insatiable urge to paint. 

He started to paint on the floor in his own blood. The medium was the only thing he could work with and it was frustrating only dealing with the color red, but he managed to get out a picture of a red bird in a red cage.

He stared at his artwork for a few moments before untying his sash, and using it as a makeshift bandage for his knuckles. He looked at his mask now sitting across from him in the cage, and then back down at the artwork.

“I feel… a lot like that bird.” He admitted, tears in his eyes, “I miss the others..” He drew his legs up to his chest, arms wrapped around them, and buried his head in them, sobbing. He was tired of fighting.

It was at that moment, he felt the cage jerk upward for a moment before being lowered back down.

He got to his feet immediately, tears still in his eyes. He moved to grab the mask, his shoes smearing the drawing he had just done. He didn’t care as he moved to the side he knew his friends would be on if they were on the balcony, peering down, waiting for any sign of his friends.

When he saw them, he was overcome with emotion, reaching out between the bars in an effort to touch them. He felt so starved for any kind of touch. The moment Akira’s fingers brushed against his, he felt immediate relief. He had to pull his hand back for a moment for the door to open but once it did, he ran into Akira’s arms.

“I told you we’ll get you out of there. I’m sorry we took so long.” Akira gathered the older man in his arms.

“I… It’s okay. I’m just… glad I can talk to you now…” The tears didn’t stop, Yusuke missed being able to talk to people, he missed being able to touch them. He missed the sound of Akira’s voice, the soft way he’d often speak to only him, he missed so many things.

That’s why he clung to Akira as he did.

“Let’s get you home… We can worry about Kenji later.” Yusuke barely heard that as he felt overwhelmed by everything and blacked out

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When he woke up, he was in Akira’s bed in the attic of LeBlanc. The other man was asleep next to him. It took him a moment to notice the both their shirts were off and they were making skin to skin contact as Akira clung lightly to Yusuke. That was what he really needed. He’d been so touch-starved up in that cage. 

Yusuke smiled and wrapped his arms around Akira too, letting sleep take him. As he held Akira close, the only thing that he thought was that he must not let go. His damaged mind was telling him never to let go.

“I missed you so much…”


End file.
